RussianCyberMondaySalesBreakRecords

Russia’s online electronics retailers set a new record for online takings on January 28, in the nation's first ever Cyber Monday sale, they said.

MOSCOW, January 29 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s online electronics retailers set a new record for online takings on January 28, in the nation's first ever Cyber Monday sale, they said.

Cyber Monday, in which online retailers offer special discounts, was first held in the United States in 2005, and now falls on the first Monday after Thanksgiving Day, which is the biggest shopping day of the year. China also has Cyber Monday sales in November.

M.video, one of the biggest Russian consumer electronics retailers, said orders on its website were 20 percent higher than at their height in December, the peak sales month of the year, reaching a total of 4,000 transactions.

Russian online marketplace Wikimart.ru said its Cyber Monday’s purchases almost doubled compared to December's peak, with sales of $2 million.

Rival Russian consumer electronics retailer Bely Veter Tsifrovoy said its online sales were up 300 percent compared with its daily average, and site traffic had doubled compared with December.

Cyber Monday was a record day for online sales of Smart TV, laptops, tablet computers, smart phones and other digital devices, the Russian retailers involved said.

Some customers claimed prices on selected goods at some online shops, including Eldorado and Enter, had been artificially inflated just days before Cyber Monday to make later discounts look more attractive.

Eldorado spokesperson Dmitry Pomogayev said this was caused by a technical glitch in the system, and said the company had decided to extend its promotion by one more day, by holding Cyber Tuesday. Bely Veter Tsifrovoy said it would follow suit, helping those customers who failed to place their orders on Monday.